"Deleting" Your Facebook Account
How to delete your personal account on Facebook

Here are directions - from Facebook's site - on how to delete your account.

Note that you have a choice to "delete" your account or "deactivate" your account.

  • If you deactivate, people can't see your timeline or search for you, although some of your private messages to people may still be visible to them.  You can "reactivate" whenever you wish.

  • If you delete your account, the actual deletion is delayed a few days so you can change your mind.  (If you want to do that, just log back in during those few days, and your account will be restored.)

    If you let the deletion proceed, several things happen. You will not be able to access that account (although you can create a new one if you want) or its data.  Your data will be deleted from the Facebook systems within 90 days.  Some information, such as messages you sent other individuals, will remain in their spaces.

Deactivate My Account

  1. Click on the blue box with the black downward triangle account settings at the top right of any Facebook page.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Click General in the left column.
  4. Click Manage your account, then click Deactivate your account and follow the instructions to confirm.

If you want to reactivate it, just log back into Facebook.

Delete My Account

Before deleting your account, you may want to log in and download a copy of your information (like your photos and posts) from Facebook. After your account has been deleted, you won't be able to retrieve anything you've added.

To permanently delete your account:

  1. Click on the blue box with the black downward triangle  at the top right of any Facebook page.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Click Your Facebook Information in the left column.
  4. Click Delete Your Account and Information, then click Delete My Account.
  5. Enter your password, click Continue and then click Delete Account.
To CANCEL your account deletion, here's what Facebook says to do:
 
"If it's been less than 30 days since you initiated the deletion, you can cancel your account deletion. After 30 days, your account and all your information will be permanently deleted, and you won't be able to retrieve your information.

"It may take up to 90 days from the beginning of the deletion process to delete all the things you've posted. While we're deleting this information, it's not accessible to other people using Facebook."

To cancel your account deletion:

  1. Log into your Facebook account within 30 days of deleting your account.
  2. Click Cancel Deletion.
Closing thought ... while evidence is mounting that we need to be CAREFUL using social media, I personally think that we can use them to good advantage if we (and the people we're communicating with) just do so safely -- resisting the temptation to put personal information on line, remembering that our every click is being tracked, being suspicious of targeted materials, etc.  Before deleting, you might try deactivating and then judge what you want to do over the longer term.  --Fulton

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